Nigeria: The NEXT awards expose an unconscionable kakistocracy

Our pride

It is always heartening to read of Nigerians winning awards or receiving international recognition for their work most especially if they are resident in Nigeria.

At the best of times, it is not the easiest country to set up business in and going from the experience of some, it is even harder to be a newspaper and a quality newspaper at that.

A few weeks ago, we were informed that the NEXT newspaper will no more appear in print, many lamented the prospect whilst opining about the course that newspaper charted that made it a pariah to advertising agencies thereby starving it of essential revenue to thrive.

NEXT was the best

This blog is not being written as an exegesis to those failings; those issues are for others to ponder. However, accolades have been raining on the newspaper like Noah’s flood; last week, Dele Olojede the founder won [1] the 4^th John P. McNulty Prize and the citation read “in recognition of his ground breaking work to deliver unbiased information to the Nigerian public, demand government transparency and advance journalistic standards in the country.”

On Tuesday, at the FAIR [2] (Forum for African Investigative Reporters) African Investigative Journalism Awards in Johannesburg, South Africa, NEXT reporters Peter Nkanga and Idris Akinbajo emerged as African Investigative Reporters of the Year for their joint work, entitled “Last Minutes Oil Deal that Cost Nigeria Dear” whilst the editor Musikilu Mojeed carted away the Courage Award.

Courage in the abyss

It is important to recount the citations that accompany these awards; in the case of the reporters, “The report is one of the six-part ground-breaking series which catalogued a courageous journey into our heart of darkness, the oil industry, as we investigate brazen attempts by our senior officials, including petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to corner the oil industry for themselves, openly demanding bribes, and using cronies and fronts to grab oil blocs in secretive deals.”

Having compiled their report, it was left to the editor to weigh the consequences of the age-old saying, “publish and be damned,” he courageously published the report and for that he “was honoured for demonstrating rare courage and providing the right kind of leadership to get the stories published in spite of high-level pressures, police harassment, attempted monetary inducement and threats to his life.”

They never cared for corruption

From the analysis that followed awarding these prizes to the now eminent personnel of NEXT, it was suggested that in any other country less corrupt and less tolerant of malfeasance, prebendalism or neopatrimonialism, the minister will not only have lost her job in disgrace, she would duly have lost her freedom too, having to go to jail.

Sadly, it is Nigeria where with all the incontrovertible facts and evidence presented to all that matter, the President with his transformational agenda re-nominated the minister for her old position after the elections and the Nigerian Senate being derelict, irresponsible and nonchalant about these rotten allegations barely questioned her but ratified her appointment thereby granting a seal of approval to a corrupt enterprise that reeked to the high heavens.

The award corroborates the reports

Now, there is no reason for FAIR to wade into the political quagmire of Nigeria and expose the sows with their snouts deep in the trough of corruption, they could easily have adopted other less politically inflammatory pieces to grant their award.

Each entry would have been judged on more than its merits for good reporting but would have been reviewed against the kinds of pressures militating against such activity being exposed to public knowledge.

It automatically lends a lie to the idea that everything that constitutes this government we now have in Nigeria with the majority PDP ruling party have a desire to tackle corruption at any level. They instigate, promote, espouse and embrace corruption as their modus operandi suborning as many as can be bought to that same cause.

They are a corrupt lot

Where the President might have had the backbone to stem the tide at the top, he acquiesced and celebrated the epitome of corruption as the lifeblood of his regime and in swearing-in the minister gave license to impunity, the minister probably continuing from where she left off knowing nothing will come of the investigations of the puny inconsequential reporters of the moribund NEXT newspaper stable.

With this award, one will hope the whole Corrupted Industrial Complex (CIC) that makes up the totality of the Federal Government of Nigeria is duly exposed to the world and our foreign partners that they have no consideration for good governance, probity or transparency and sadly, Nigerians thinking they have a democracy are in fact, caught in the merciless iron grip of a heartless and unconscionable kakistocracy – a government by the worst of men.

For the salvation of Nigeria – woe betide them all.

Sources

[1] 234Next.com | Olojede wins John P. McNulty Prize

[2] 234Next.com | NEXT editor, two reporters win African investigative journalism awards

[3] 234Next.com | Last minute oil deals that cost Nigeria dear

Thought Picnic: Mansions, Rooms & Windows

Life as a mansion

Life is an amazing mansion with cellars and attics, back houses, stables, gardens and much else showing the wealth and status of the occupant.

The most important parts of the mansion that may not define status but are essential are the rooms and the windows, on the many floors that one will traverse by staircases; some grand, some steep, some spiral and others on the verge of making the climber levitate.

The halls and corridors leading to bed chambers or conveniences or those that cater for means of liveliness whilst there are forbidden places rarely troubled the haven of arachnids yet to be documented into a known genus.

Rooms as experiences

This mansion I have lived and retired in to have some doors open into rooms so stale that my opening the windows brings in a breath of fresh air, some doors have opened to other rooms that must be gutted harbouring garbage rivalling the muck of Aegean stables.

Other doors are locked shut and the keys are lost, in some cases locksmith have helped gain access to those rooms, in other areas of the mansion, they are hermetically sealed, no kicking will make the doors budge and those rooms remain a mystery.

All those one can deal with, you find alternative routes around the mansion and they least bother you if you can do what you need to do around the house.

Doors as opportunities

The worst times in this mansion have been when the door was opened, you could see right into the room and everything seemed welcoming enough to draw your gaze and your footsteps and just as you got to the door, it was slammed shut in your face and you know it was not the gust of the wind by reason of open windows.

At that point, you feel helpless, not like you will immediately turn the knob, but for a while you’ll be stood there trying to determine why, what, whether, where in wonderment that more represents shock.

Then you turn around as and find another room where there might be more pleasant company, it is impossible for every door in a mansion to suddenly have the mind of slamming shut in your face – time makes for the ebbing away of shocking memories, soon that old door will yield to your gentle opening and whoever slammed the door in your face might well have gone with the wind.

Windows as settling down

There are doors and many to open, the one that will not yield access to that room meant other rooms will get occupied and what about a new room in an unexplored part of the mansion – it just feels new and comfortable there – I’ll just open the window and let in some air, look, I have company; we’ll have tea.

Nigeria: Why Black Africans may never have a revolution

Some stark truths

Every once in a while, the need to address controversial issues are pertinent, if only to start a conversation on certain unpalatable matters that in these times might be politically incorrect but nonetheless true on closer scrutiny.

In this blog, I take 6 paragraphs from Lord Lugard’s book, The Dual Mandate that I covered in my Apes Obey Series a few years ago; then, I excerpted phrases and used them as topical pointers to contemporary issues in Nigeria.

With the kinds of political upheaval around the world and the agitation for more representative democracy along with the apparent docility of our people allowing for moribund, clueless and unaccountable governments, profligacy that serves the elite with impunity and the way religious ignorance allows for people to be herded as sheep, cattle or goats, it is necessary to revisit the observations made almost 90 years ago.

This time, within the text of the paragraphs I will offer some commentary in parenthesis along with my observations which I do not expect many to agree with but that is a matter of opinion.

Happy, but why?

In character and temperament, the typical African of this race-type is a happy, thriftless, excitable person [As far back as 2003, Nigeria topped the list of countries with the happiest people, the same still finds true in 2011, though there is no reason in the midst of its problems, poverty, violence, corruption and attendant issues why it has been identified as such.]; lacking in self-control, discipline, and foresight [Everyone knows that the development of infrastructure will make a difference to Nigeria’s economic growth and the welfare of the people, the government just seems to lack the will, the resolve, the ability and the drive to implement such.]; naturally courageous, and naturally courteous and polite, full of personal vanity [The politicians are an example but religious leaders seem to exemplify a level of hedonism that is sickening.], with little sense of veracity, [The matter of character and how the corrupt find much respect within society and the community when they should be shunned.], fond of music and loving weapons as an oriental loves jewellery.

Hedonists and materialists

His thoughts are concentrated on the events and feelings of the moment [Sadly, this suggests the inability to be objective, like working with ideas or logic, we'll rather engage in ad hominem attacks than address the issues.], and he suffers little from the apprehension for the future or grief for the past [Our sense of history is poor and the way people do things with impunity suggests we are not afraid of the consequences of our actions.]; his mind is far nearer to the animal world than that of the European or Asiatic [Many of the things we deign to imitate are poorly adapted or managed, we give those adaptations a local interpretation to suggest difference and still fail at it.], and exhibits something of the animals’ placidity and want of desire to rise beyond the State he has reached [It is any wonder that our desire for material prosperity is exploited so well by the powerful?].

Losing our sense of history

Through the ages the African appears to have evolved no organized religious creed [Our animist traditions are somewhat inherently evil and those we have acquired are badly followed.], and though some tribes appear to believe in a deity, the religious sense seldom rises above pantheistic animalism and seems more often to take the form of a vague dread of the supernatural [The superstitious element of our psyche is ready material to be exploited for gain by many religious cults and leaders masquerading as purveyors of solutions to our problems as we are enticed, cajoled and fleeced.].

Suited for the mob

He lacks the power of organization [This might explain why we might never have an Arab Spring but there are other issues about organisation too that plague us in terms of order, meticulousness, following rules and much more.], and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business [Except cynically where a mob is aroused or religious fervour is excited for sometimes illogical ends.]; he loves the display of power [Everyone who seems to have power almost always allows it to corrupt them.], but fails to realize its responsibility [This will require a treatise but it is self-explanatory.]; he will work hard with a less incentive than most races [The many times we have tolerated, endured and condoned abuse for little or no reward and still do.].

Braggadocio par excellence

He has the courage of the fighting animal, an instinct rather than a moral virtue [Even when offenders are caught red-handed, the bluster, effrontery and brazenness expressed feigning innocence is breath-taking.]; in brief, the virtues and defects of this race-type are those of attractive children, whose confidence when it is won is given ungrudgingly as to an older and wiser superior and without envy [This appears to inform the cult of personality that surrounds the powerful be they political or religious – a sense of fawning and obsequiousness that is uncharitably sycophancy.].

Impunity without consequence

Perhaps the two traits which have impressed me as those most characteristic of the African native are his lack of apprehension and his lack of ability to visualize the future. [Probably, the most damning conclusion after this assessment.]

It goes without saying that a good deal of this observation made in the 1920s finds true today and sadly, I sometimes find myself exhibiting certain traits that appear to belie a cultural predilection to type, something one strives hard to be rid of and in the process be a better person.

Thought Picnic: Blood-letting tales

Telling bloody stories

In just over two weeks I will return to hospital to see my medical consultant who I last was almost 4 months ago.

As usual, at least two weeks before that meeting I need to go in to give blood to be tested and reveal all sorts of tales about my health, my progress and other physiological things that never cease to amaze me – the stories told by the blood when particular tests are carried out are myriad.

It was always interesting when he refers to liver function, kidney health, cholesterol, platelets and much more, however, the greatest improvement he will notice will be the absence of my cane.

5 vials only

I chose to ride to the hospital in the early afternoon when I thought the crowds will have thinned out and that was the case. The number I got from the ticket queue machine just had two ahead of me.

When I stepped forward to register, the nurse scanned my forms and the printer coughed out 7 labels, starting with my details and then 5 labels for the bloods and the last label signifying the end of the order.

You have to marvel at laser printer technology as the labels are spewed out so nicely printer and in case you did not know, laser is in fact an acronym for Light Amplification by Simulation of Emissive Radiation.

Let me cry and be a woos

I am usually drained of 7 vials of blood, I cannot say why it was two short of the usual, but within 5 minutes of registering I was called in to give blood.

Without much fuss, I presented my left arm, the tourniquet was fastened and with a clenched fist a vein presented itself for the needle whilst I looked away.

Then, the nurse plugged in the vials one after the other and I could not help commenting that the blood looked darker than usual, but she said it was just the right colour, I almost felt like I had received an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée for my blood, it goes without saying that a bleed does at times look rosier than blood going into a vial.

Soon, it was done, needle removed, cotton wool to seal the prick puncture and masking tape to keep in place. The masking tape will eventually wear and easily fall off because I sometimes just feel too much of a woos to pull off the tape and end up waxing the hairs off my arm – Ouch! Ouch!

A man can only endure so much pain.

Nigeria: The need to arrest the spate of religious vampires

The gospel meeting needs

The airing on Channel 4 in the UK of Seyi Rhodes' Unreported World - The Making Of … Nigeria’s Millionaire Preachers [1] did not include other footage that would have been more representative of the gospel because it did not appear as spectacular and outlandish as the subjects in that show.

In an accompanying article [2] that should have had a modicum of proofreading [This is a blog, Channel 4 is a professional news channel, such must be better catered for.] the ministry of Rev. Mrs. Chika Oluchi is spoken of.

She is the overseer of The Mountain of the Lord Ministries International: Centre for Liberation which runs a widow’s fellowship catering to the needs of these women who apparently have no means of material or spiritual support.

Almost inexcusable gullibility

Most touching is the story of Therese who is mistakenly identified as a widower rather than a widow, just as the confusion of numbers is used to describe Rev. Oluchi as a remarkable women [sic].

Therese lost her husband some years ago and apparently fell into the hands of rotten preachers who convinced her that her husband was a member of a devil worshipping cult persuading her to dispose of all her late husband’s property and give the proceeds to the church leaving her and her children destitute.

To crown this wickedness they said God will kill her and her children if anyone found out. Those preachers have now been apprehended and Therese appears to be rebuilding her life untouched by the supposedly wrathful God ready to murder her and her children for being inadvertently married to a devil worshipping husband.

Held hostage to their ignorance

Herein is the deeper problem with religion in Nigeria, the ability for the unscrupulous, dishonest and Machiavellian to prey on the gullibility and apparently vague dread of the supernatural of people to exact them money, property, blind allegiance and followership.

People get held hostage to their fears perishing in their ignorance and inability to independently seek out the truth of their beliefs many of which have been foisted upon them by merchants of deception masquerading as religious leaders.

Sadly, there is no indication that many can emancipate themselves from this enslavement as these religious confidence tricksters trot out every kind of corporate or personal message along with false prophecies purporting to be of God to feed on the anxieties, fears, uncertainties and doubts of the sometimes vulnerable, sometimes stupid and usually both.

Taking advantage

Religious vampires with fangs long enough to sink deep into the heart to feast on the blood of those beholden to their whims, drawn away from the truth by the spectacular and paralysed by the fear of the retribution of blood thirsty animist gods in the misrepresentation of the Christian God.

It takes one back to those unsightly but horribly truthful paragraphs reproduced below from Lord Lugard’s book, The Dual Mandate that I covered in my Apes Obey Series [3].

Revisiting Apes Obey

In character and temperament, the typical African of this race-type is a happy, thriftless, excitable person; lacking in self-control, discipline, and foresight; naturally courageous, and naturally courteous and polite, full of personal vanity, with little sense of veracity, fond of music and loving weapons as an oriental loves jewellery.

His thoughts are concentrated on the events and feelings of the moment, and he suffers little from the apprehension for the future or grief for the past; his mind is far nearer to the animal world than that of the European or Asiatic, and exhibits something of the animals’ placidity and want of desire to rise beyond the State he has reached.

Through the ages the African appears to have evolved no organized religious creed, and though some tribes appear to believe in a deity, the religious sense seldom rises above pantheistic animalism and seems more often to take the form of a vague dread of the supernatural.

He lacks the power of organization, and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business; he loves the display of power, but fails to realize its responsibility; he will work hard with a less incentive than most races.

He has the courage of the fighting animal, an instinct rather than a moral virtue; in brief, the virtues and defects of this race-type are those of attractive children, whose confidence when it is won is given ungrudgingly as to an older and wiser superior and without envy.

Perhaps the two traits which have impressed me as those most characteristic of the African native are his lack of apprehension and his lack of ability to visualize the future.

Without doubt there is a need to review each of these traits as identified by Lord Lugard and see how certain who have acquired power by all sorts of means have been able to subjugate others so easily because therein lies the root of many of the problems Africans face today, a fifth of those Africans are apparently Nigerian.

[1] 4oD – Channel 4 – Unreported World - The Making Of … Nigeria’s Millionaire Preachers

[2] The Making Of … Nigeria’s Millionaire Preachers – The Widows’ Fellowship and Therese’s story.

[3] Introducing the Apes Obey! Series

Thought Picnic: The character of professionalism

Living by the wits of one’s expertise

For the past 16 years, I have been self-employed, within that time; I took full-time employment for two years, was seriously ill that I was out of work for a year and have had the unfortunate situation of being unemployed for nigh on a year.

Difficult as times might have been, there are things that appear to stand out in my career that requires sharing or maybe just documenting for posterity sake.

Trying to get back into work has not been easy especially where I have had to deal with people who only recognise me from what they have read in my resume and nothing else.

Quality and qualification

At interview, the questions are usually geared to the fundamentals of my knowledge rather than my suitability for the job, as I pride myself in implementing systems that work right the first time I have found that I might not have answers to questions that represent the experiences of others who might not be as thorough in their implementations – some problems just seem too incredible and unnecessary but not many are ready to have others fix the poor setups they have created.

That by the way, it so happens that literally every job I have had has come from recommendations of those I have worked with or worked for in the past.

As much as possible, I strive to do my best and that appears to create some lasting impression that keeps me in the professional and sometimes social minds of my ex-colleagues that when certain opportunities present themselves I get a call to ascertain my interest.

Leaving worthwhile legacies

I believe it is a combination of character and professionalism that allows for this including the simple aim of not burning any of my bridges.

For the job I will start tomorrow, I am even the more amazed because I was recommended by colleagues I worked with at a time when I had just returned from a long bout of illness; I only had the strength to do 32-hours a week with Wednesdays off and the greater technical burden was shouldered by a selfless and hardworking colleague.

In many cases, I believe I was accommodated quite well despite my shortcomings and frailties, these same people always seemed to have me in mind all through the times when I had no work which for some reason must have indicated I had left some sort of impression.

I am honoured that they have chosen once again to have me as a colleague to approach new challenges but the most important thing of all is a career that is built on the character of professionalism will always find opportunity when such openings present themselves.

Nigeria: The spectacular gospel of Mammon

To believe the unbelievable

It is difficult to appreciate the honest and truthful propagation of the gospel in Nigeria in the context of the unconventional places of worship called churches all around the place.

In a country where a majority are in thrall of the supernatural and bound by the incredulity of the superstitious, it would appear the religiously savvy have found a ready customer base and market for a set of products that range from a message, through the spectacular and a form of rampant hedonism sold off as signs of prosperity.

In a recently broadcast television documentary on Channel 4 in the UK, Seyi Rhodes in Unreported World reported on The Making Of … Nigeria’s Millionaire Preachers [1], showcasing the rather different Dr. Sign Fireman who unexpectedly appears rather casually than in the usual well-tailored suit.

The spectacle of enticement

A healthy sense of scepticism and discretion is required whilst viewing this show but the message is clear, dreadful seriousness envelops the congregation as exorcisms take place to amazement and incredulity, the supposedly possessed responding to commands like automatons until they are set free.

The earnest aspiration of most is for a prosperous life exemplified in materialistic shows of wealth as in the testimony of the pastor of a branch of Dr. Sign Fireman’s hydra-headed organisation called the Perfect Christianity Ministry whose rise from rags to untold riches included 3 cars, designer suits and gold wristwatches.

The message is no doubt perfect, it is about enticement as Dr. Fireman proffered at one of the lectures to his coterie of junior minister pastors of the branches, the packaging appears to be everything but the real essence of Christianity and as for if it is a ministry, it as much as ministers to some need.

Itching ears

In Apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he identified that kind of ministry in these words, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. ” (NIV) II Tim 4:3 [2]

There is nothing wrong with the quest and desire for prosperity but that basic longing appears to have been hijacked and converted into the mantra of filthy lucre, all the words for gospel truth are used to present another gospel where Mammon is god and the worship is broadly entertainment.

This level of perversion might in the end begin a new type of Puritanism just as it proliferates splinter groups that call themselves churches all with the view of ministering to the needs of the people by first catering to the seemingly greedy machinations of the cult of personality that passes for presiding over a congregation.

Who are these people?

At the end of the documentary, you had to ask where Dr. Sign Fireman came from, what are his antecedents, what is his history and did he get his name by deed poll?

Beyond that, it is difficult to see the difference between the workings of the Italian mafia and these deceptively interesting church organisations with their heavies, entourages, security and “bling.”

As for yellow being all around the place, I am wont to believe it is more the homage to some Yellow god in some grotto yet to be accessed by civilisation than an affectation borne from childhood lending to the claim of being a yellow freak.

One must not however contemn those who have been caught by this spectacle, it serves a purpose almost as nefarious as it could be considered sinister but there is no scriptural foundation for the burial of Satan, no matter how contrived the interpretation offered to loosen the purse strings of the sad to say seriously taken and gullible lot that participated in this travesty.

Sources

[1] 4oD – Channel 4 – Unreported World - The Making Of … Nigeria’s Millionaire Preachers

[2] Bible.cc – II Timothy 4:3